Comment: Ofsted children’s social care dataset

Commenting on Ofsted’s annual children’s social care data 2022 John Pearce, ADCS Vice President, said:

“Ofsted’s latest annual children’s social care data highlights the continued challenges facing local authorities when trying to find placements for children in our care. While the number of children’s homes has increased this does not necessarily increase overall capacity as the number of children living in individual homes is reducing with more solo or low occupancy homes. As a result need continues to outstrip supply so finding the right placement for a child, at the right time, as close to home as possible is increasingly difficult. The uneven distribution of homes across the country is an added challenge with homes frequently opening up where housing is cheaper not where they’re needed most, as is the unwillingness of some providers to take children with any level of complexity for fear of the impact on their Ofsted rating. This can mean children and young people with complex needs, who are equally deserving of our love, care and support, are placed miles away from their friends, families and communities or in a home on their own and sometimes in unregulated provision. This is not in the best interests of children, and it has a knock-on effect on the availability of homes and local authority budgets. It’s a vicious cycle.

“Placement sufficiency has long been an issue for local authorities, and we face similar challenges when trying to find placements in secure children’s homes for a small but extremely vulnerable cohort of children and young people. These children are in extreme distress and placements are often needed at short notice. As the data shows there are only 13 secure children’s homes in England, no provision in some parts of the country at all, demand for beds has grown and therefore long distances are frequently involved. There has also been an increase in young people with substantial mental health needs within this group which may be linked to the significant decrease in Tier 4 Mental Health bed provision for young people. Where a secure placement cannot be found or the young person’s needs are so severe they are unable to live with other children, a single bedded children’s home has become the only option. The rise in single bedded children’s homes is reflective of the level of complexity of need many children are experiencing but it is also a consequence of the need to ‘match’ children when they are living in a home together. While getting the balance of young people in a home is critical, so is ensuring that children and young people have the opportunity to develop and nourish positive peer relationships as this is in their best interests. We need to fundamentally rethink this issue in conjunction with government, Ofsted and our key partners.”

ENDS

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